TikTok is becoming a harmful social media platform for Gen-Z users with concerns about protection of online identity, self-representation and privacy rapidly increasing.

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways of which TikTok is becoming a harmful social media platform for Gen-Z users diving into the critical concerns about protection of online identity, self-representation and privacy rapidly increasing, whilst tapping into the harmful misuse of the platform and what affects that brings to the youth.

Introduction
Social media is one of the fastest forms of online communication (Benage, C. E. (2011) Where individuals can create their own pages to represent themselves and be creative creating content and sharing it with others. In this essay I will focus on the themes of mental and physical well-being, cyberbullying and how self-presentation and identity can be affected thought the overuse of TikTok, stunted academic development, and privacy concerns, into the ways in which these themes are represented on Tik Tok and how they can be harmful to its users, in particular Generation Z. With the purpose of arguing my thesis of why Tik Tok has become a dangerous social media platform which cultivates a community of gen z users to develop online privacy and identity issues. through examples and scholarly research to back up my argument. TikTok is a social media platform that was launched in 2017 by a Chinese technology company Byte Dance (Investopedia, 2023). It is a platform which fosters community engagement and interaction through posting and sharing videos as well as features which allow comments, live feature, reposts, private messages, likes and following. “The study of community is the study of social structure, a link between solidarity and cohesion, and the interaction between people and new technologies” (Hampton,2015). Maqueen, et, al, 2023 ultimately states that Identity is a term which can be described as how an individual views themselves.

In the context of the four conference streams, I will be exploring communities and social media and arguing why Tik Tok has become a dangerous social media platform which cultivates a community of generation Z users to inherit privacy and online identity issues.

Background
TikTok has become an increasingly popular app among young people, particularly targeting Generation Z. Generation z are in the age demographic of people born in 1997-2012 from 11 to 26 years old (Beresford research, 2023). In addition to being a fun and entertaining platform, TikTok can also be harmful to the younger generation. The meteoric rise of TikTok has sprung about concerns regarding the privacy of our youths, especially concerns about our 8-to-12-year old’s. (De Leyn, De Wolf, 2021) In this specific age bracket, users would be navigating the difficult period between childhood protection and the teenage need for independence, this means that their experience in managing what kinds of information are suitable to share is limited at best. In a study by De Leyn, De Wolf, 2021 on the relationship between parents and tweens on TikTok, the findings show that Participants view TikTok as a liminal networked public that exists somewhere between kid-friendly activities and teen-oriented pop culture. As a result, this dialectical relationship influences how parents think about and handle their children’s privacy on TikTok. However, parents’ expectations regarding their kids’ privacy practises may not always correspond with tweens’ capacity to manage the line between public and private information. This tells us that there are many assumptions about how strong TikTok is at safeguarding its users and online platform from negative and harmful use or exposure to young kids.

TikTok, being a social media community, fosters a lot of engagement and interaction between its users and it requires a great deal of personal information from its users, including but not exclusively: Access to their current location, browsing history, email addresses and personal contact lists. In the past, TikTok has claimed to use a range of different methods, to monitor instances where users are suspected of not being truthful about their age (AFP international,2021). Though they proved their methods at protecting younger demographics have been ineffective as they have previously had to remove 7 million underage users (AFP International,2021). The social media platform has therefore admitted to failure on mass scale regarding protecting underaged users from exposure to inappropriate content. It begs the question, why take all this personal information from younger users in the first place, if it does not protect them?

Discussion
Social media is a multifaceted network which gives users the tools to showcase their identities online in fun and new and exciting ways; but it also opens them up to a wider audience, one that they would not necessarily interact with offline, and one that would not necessarily appreciate the identity that has been showcased. This creates a resting place for cyberbullying to take place, putting its users at risk, especially the younger portion of Gen Z users as they are the most vulnerable and susceptible to abuse.

Cyberbullying is a growing problem on social media platforms, and TikTok is no exception. Young people are particularly vulnerable to cyberbullying, as they may not have the skills or emotional resilience to handle the negative comments and criticism that can come with posting content online. Cyberbullying can have serious consequences, including anxiety, depression, and even suicide (Na, J,2020.)

Overuse of TikTok’s platform can be harmful to young people’s mental health. An anecdotal case study by youthtopia it reveals that a 17-year-old girl with almost 11,000 followers on her TikTok page, experienced cyberbullying as she filmed and shared TikTok dances as a way of having fun, however it quickly turned into harassment as strangers on the platform left mean comments on her videos. The young girl stated that she views it as a “Toxic place because people there tend to speak with no filter” (Na, J, 2020). Cyberbullying can result in mental health issues and this case is just one of hundreds of influencer testimonies online who express how cyberbullying is prevalent on the app and there are not enough moderations in place to safeguard the experience of its users as it is an ongoing issue that can be detrimental to the lives of young people and their self-presentation and identity which they find so much of through content creation on platforms like TikTok.

There is constant comparison that takes place on the app which also creates a space for body image issues which can also lead to identity crisis. In the same case study from youthtopia, an anecdote from a 19-year-old influencer shared that she was fat shamed on a dance video and was particularly upset when another influencer joined in on her being ridiculed, by liking the negative comments (Na, J, 2020).

There are many videos on TikTok showing people performing impressive dance moves, displaying their amazing talents, and living what appears to be an exciting and glamorous lifestyle. These videos can be entertaining, but they can also make young people feel inadequate or inferior. Youth can be overwhelmed by the constant stream of unrealistic body type appearances, and the portrayal that others have perfect lives, which can damage their self-esteem. All these factors can make them doubt and not like their own unique identity or how they are presented online. 2022 statistics show that Australians spend an average of 23.4 hours a month which was a 40% increase from 2021, (SMPerth, 2022) and 90% of users use it every day, in the US 62% of all Tik Tok users are indicating that Gen Z users are the most at risk to developing mental health issues and experiencing cyberbullying due to their frequent engagement on the online platform (SMPerth, 2022) in relation to the concepts of the unit, these statistic reinforce the idea of a strong presence of community and networks in society as there is a plethora of engagement within this app alone. this also encapsulations the formation of networked publics that are sharing the same underlying mental health effects of TikTok

Additionally, TikTok can have a detrimental effect on the physical health of young people. In addition to the dangers associated with stunts and risky behaviors, TikTok is home to many challenges and trends. For example, the “Blackout challenge” I which involves individuals to choke themselves until they are passed out (Grasiosi, 2023) in January of 2023 it was reported that a 12-year-old girl passed away during her third attempt of the blackout challenge. This reinforces how vulnerable the younger platform users can be as a result of the content being presented and this also encapsulations the formation of networked publics who are willing to partake in harmful stunts because they are popular to a network of people on the platform. While TikTok has banned this challenge, other dangerous challenges continue to circulate on the platform. Young people may feel pressure to participate in these challenges to fit in or gain followers, even though the risks are high to gain more followers and feel socially accepted by their peers.

In addition to the physical risks of dangerous challenges, TikTok can also promote unhealthy behaviours and body image issues. Many TikTok users promote unhealthy diets, extreme exercise routines, and even dangerous weight loss techniques. Young people who are exposed to these messages may develop unrealistic expectations for their own bodies and feel pressure to conform to unhealthy standards.

TikTok has continuously raised concerns internationally, not only about the potential harms to young people’s privacy and safety, but also for the wider global population. TikTok now functions as a micro-marketing platform, which sets out to collect a questionably large amount of personal information from its users, including their current locations that are checked once every hour (Australian financial review), a record of their in-app browsing history, and personal contacts. While TikTok claims that user privacy is paramount, there have historically been numerous concerns about data breaches and various other privacy violations on the platform. Many young people who use TikTok do not understand all the potential risks that come with sharing personal information online, especially when it comes to apps like TikTok.

The many complaints about the protection measures surrounding TikTok have recently reached a boiling point, as the airing of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was publicly grilled for several hours by congress (Reuters, 2023). The TikTok CEO was called to testify over concerns that U.S Congress had both over the potential the platform has to leak the personal information of American citizens to the Chinese government, and that the app fails to protect younger users from harm.

In addition to the overwhelming number of privacy concerns, TikTok can also be a means for predators and other dangerous individuals. TikTok has previously been used by adults to groom and exploit young people, and there have been numerous reports of sexual harassment, child grooming and other inappropriate behaviour that have taken place on the platform. The app’s younger audiences may not be aware of the risks of interacting with strangers online, which as a result leaves them more vulnerable to these kinds of predators. Simple safety deficiencies have been consistently overlooked by social media platform, whether it’s a failure to ban repeatedly reported users, or even failures to accurately verify a user’s age (MM Guardian,2022) TikTok at this moment in time is not a safe place for young people to spend on average 45.8 minutes per day (Emarketer, 2022). Ultimately these are reasons for the rising privacy breaches and concerns for users’ safety, especially that of the younger users its exposed to.

Finally, TikTok can be detrimental as it can hinder academic and social development. TikTok can be incredibly addictive, and because 62% of users are generally in the age bracket of 11-26, they are the most at risk because they spend too much time on the app may struggle to prioritize their schoolwork or engage in real-world social interactions. TikTok can also create a false sense of connection and social validation, which may lead young people to neglect real-world relationships and experiences (SMPerth, 2022)

Conclusion
In conclusion, while TikTok can be a fun and entertaining platform, it can also be harmful to the younger generation in several ways. From cyberbullying and dangerous challenges to privacy concerns and academic distractions, there are many risks associated with using TikTok. I believe with the evidence based in this essay, it should be strongly understood that TikTok has become a dangerous social media community for Gen-Z users and has several concerns about protection of online identity and privacy.

References
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